music and language

[Richard Zane Smith]

Phil,
this has happened here in Oklahoma, where our Iroquoian family languages
aren't spoken daily.
But languages are surviving in speeches and our ceremonial songs .
ceremonies persist even when the language begins to whither.
(Though sometimes those who are learning will have their "cheat sheets"
handy in case they lose their place.)
Many of the songs have passed orally, so they change and evolve naturally
with each singer.
We have also been able to REintroduce forgotten songs that were recorded
from old wax cylinder recordings.

there are also some problems that come with this. We have inadvertently
created something akin to a "religious Latin"
by using the language only ceremonially. But then our whole ceremonial
structure has become more symbolic (and religious)
as well. We do the Maple, the Strawberry and Blackberry ceremonies, but
because Walmart shelves are full of produce (all year)
we certainly do not have in our being the same connection and thankfulness
at seeing first wild strawberries as our ancestors did.

theres a kind of separation drift happening between sacred and secular in
our lives.....which i feel is unfortunate...even alarming.
 we offer special thanks and tobacco when we cut cedar branches ...but what
do we do when we are filling up at the gas station?
BUT....Its a big topic and probably the majority of people here aren't
interested in this stuff....

-Richard



On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:00 PM, Phillip E Cash Cash <
cashcash at email.arizona.edu> wrote:

> Greetings, I also want to add here that there is a rich but poorly
> documented aspect of 2nd language acquisition, that of ritual induced 2nd
> language acquisition.  Typically, in the ritual life, there is "music"
> present but not always.  I imagine that that there may be similar
> situations as in my own indigenous community where there are a growing
> number of younger practitioners who are 2nd language learners.  They
> acquire both the ritual practices and associated language simultaneously.
>  I will be addressing this phenomenon in my AILDI course offering here in
> Tucson in 2013. :)  Hopefully, we can find some supporting articles, etc.
>  Let me know if you find/know of any.
>
> Life and language always,
>
> Phil Cash Cash
> UofA
>
>


-- 

 *For it hath ever been the use of the conqueror to despise the language of
the conquered and to force him by all means to learn his. - Edmund
Spenser,  (1596)
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richardzanesmith.wordpress.com

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